Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Science - Department of Organic Chemistry

Carrageenans are polysaccharides capable of forming bio hydrogels because they are extracted from red algae. These linear polysaccharides consist of D-galactose and 3,6-anhydrogalactose units with different numbers of sulfate groups. Kappa-Carrageenan is considered as the most commercial type of carrageenans and is widely used in biomedical field, biosensors, cosmetics, paints and food industries. Carboxymethyl kappacarrageenan was synthesized owing to its wide industrial and scientific applications. Poly (ethylene glycol) PEG is a hydrophilic, non-volatile, non-hazardous and biocompatible polymer. Hydrogels that have PEG as one of its constituents, are used in many applications such as in drug delivery and in tissue scaffolds. Recently, clay minerals have been used in a wide range in the synthesis of polymer/clay nanocomposites because it has excellent intercalation properties and their low production cost and super absorbent hydrogels are produced. Montmorillonite (MMT) is the most abundant clay mineral that is used in many industries, it is used as an absorbent in removing dyes and adsorbing heavy metal ions. This thesis deals with the preparation of biodegradable hydrogels based on carboxymethyl kappa carrageenan (CMKc) in combination with poly(ethylene glycol) PEG. The synthesis of CMKc was performed via reaction of Kappa carrageenan (Kc) with monochloroacetic acid in 40% NaOH (w/v). The structure of CMKc was characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, TEM and TGA. The characterizations proved synthesis of CMKc

Issued also as CD